I already know that there is no benefit in being honest or in giving good suggestions to improve things at the company as no change will be applied from the exit interview suggestions.
I also do not want to burn any bridges by attending the exit interview and being honest.
So what is best way to say no to attending the exit interview? I just don't want to face it.
If your company wants to have an exit interview, it is unlikely that you can avoid it (at least not without damaging your relationship with the company).
Go to the interview. Feel free to politely answer questions without being brutally honest. "I don't have any suggestions to give you", for example, can just as easily mean that you're politely declining to share suggestions that you don't expect to be implemented.
How can I politely turn down the exit interview?
Don't. Just attend the interview but remain noncommittal, control your temper and avoid saying anything negative. Resign yourself to wasting an hour or so regurgitating vague statements, trite phrases and meaningless pleasantries. Memorise phrases like:
This is vastly preferable to refusing to attend. You may be perfectly right on principle but you'll lose on politics.1
Refer to this question for further suggestions on what to say, how to say it and what to avoid saying: How much should I say in an exit interview?
1 Paraphrased from Alison Green
You will likely mess up relations even more by wiggling out of a social convention like an exit interview (if this is commonplace at your employer). You don't want your ex-boss, when asked for a reference of you, to think of you straight away as "the guy that wiggled out of the exit interview".
This may be the last possibility of leaving a positive impression. It's certainly worth it to bend over a little and do this right. After all, if you are willing to invest effort into getting out of the interview, you could just as well invest effort into doing a professional and polite interview and leave on good terms.
Prepare beforehand. Think of a couple of good things about your current employer, as well as a few minor things that could be improved. Have a professional reason for leaving, like wanting to see new ways of doing things, or working in a different environment.
I don't like exit interviews for the same reasons, but thinking back, most of the exit interviews I've done weren't interviews at all. I don't remember anyone ever asking me why I was leaving, or asking for suggestions on improving things. They already knew why I was leaving.
Generally, you don't have to go to an exit interview if you don't want to. But, your company is likely required to do certain compliance notifications and other paperwork, and you may have to return keys and/or a badge. The best time to do that is an exit interview, so just go and get it over with.
Don't worry too much about it. If they ask you any uncomfortable questions, don't be rude or angry. Just give a short, generic response. For example, if they ask for suggestions on how to improve conditions, just say you don't have any. If they ask why you are leaving, say you got a better opportunity. Do nothing to prolong the meeting, and it should go quickly.
From the employer's perspective, the exit interview is primarily about spelling out specific ongoing obligations. For instance, this is when you'll hear fairly obvious things like "If you do need to come to the office for any reason, you need to be signed in", or polite reminders like "You are not allowed to divulge any trade secrets, even to your new employer". Normally you'll be asked to sign something specific HR needs. You may have agreed to things, such as supporting the company even after you leave in litigation, and you'll be asked to sign a reminder.
Some facts may be established, such as you leaving on your own accord, which affects unemployment benefits you may try to claim later.
Sometimes HR wants to cull information about your experiences for their benefit, but it is not in your best interest to tell the truth. I suspect HR rarely gets useful information from these in that respect.
If there is a dispute later, you're likely to be portrayed as leaving without fulfilling your obligations, which can undermine claims for compensation, etc.
You should be paid for the day, or at least the time.
Exit interviews are ridiculous and a complete waste of time. However, there really is no way to politely decline them. Even if you are completely courteous, the very act of declining will be seen as disrespectful.
So you get to choose ...
The consensus is that the first choice is the best one, and I concur.
If you are not willing or able to do so, I recommend not attending over attending and speaking your mind. To bastardize an old proverb, it is better to be silent and thought a jerk than to speak up and demonstrate that you are jerk.
I'm not a fan of exit interviews and have made some efforts in the past to avoid them. My strategy has been relatively simple;
Do your best to book the exit interview for as late as possible, ideally within one or two days of your leaving date. This can usually be accomplished by claiming to be very busy "finishing things off" or simply begging your boss to find you activities on the days proposed by HR.
On the day of the interview, claim to be suffering from toothache or an unspecified stomach condition and simply remove yourself from the office for a couple of hours to "go buy medicine", thus rendering the exit interview a missed event.
I appreciate that this may seem inelegant but please trust me when I say that it works and works well.
Sharing my own experience in this particular case I can say: just focus on your final report you've made before. You're absolutely right if you don't want to shake the air with words where nobody listens to it.
Make a more detailed explanation of all the final report's' fields, and that should be fine! You may face direct questions about management, etc. - just say that "I'm not a proficient manager, I'm a specialist in <your field of expertise>, so I'm not even trying to think as a manager. That's why I can't fully answer your question". Of course if you was not a manager =) I'm an IT expert, and it worked like a charm.
I say you should attend the exit interview. Your employer is asking you for something for the last time, and by saying no, you will not give a very good last impression.
Plus, exit interviews can be very helpful for you too. Invite your coworkers to the exit interview and ask them for feedback on you. How you can improve? What do they like about you and what do they not? I recently had my first exit interview. I got very valuable feedback from my co-workers and employer.
Finally, prepare some general feedback for the company. I suggest that you neither be too blunt/straight, nor just keep praising the company. Give them some honest feedback that can help them and at the same time, don't offend them. Remember not to target anyone. Some of the points I can think are:
I feel like we spent a lot of time in meetings. This should be reduced.
I feel there are a few too many disturbances in the workplace; this happens all the time. This affects productivity somewhat.
This will give them a feeling that it is genuine and not lying/praising bluntly.
